Cozumel 2004 Travel Journal

The Birth of the Cinco de Mayo Club

What better place to go on Cinco de Mayo, the day that commemorates a Mexican / U.S. victory over France and Spanish loyalist Mexican troops, than Cozumel. By the way, it is not Mexican Independence Day as I thought, that is September 10th. Unlike most of our trips, this one had a fairly large cast. The founding members of the elite and excusive Cinco de Mayo Club are: Ted and Gina Ross, David and Suni McDaniel, Sylvester and Ingrid Ruffin (OK, not quite yet, but close enough), and of course the Maurbies.

Ted Ross a.k.a. "Rasta Man"

Quote of the Trip: "Guys, don't hate me because I'm beautiful..."

The Bathing Beauties from left to right:

Ingrid, Suni, Gina

Sorry guys, they're all married.

Quote of the Trip: "Somebody told us there is shopping on this island..."

Smilin' David McDaniel

Quote of the Trip: "Where the h*** is Ted?"

Yes, he does have a tattoo of Sponge Bob on his arm.

Sylvester "I'm manly enough to wear pink" Ruffin

Quote of the Trip: "Damn it, somebody told the girls there is shopping on this island..."

Travel Log

Our trip began at 7:00 A.M. at the Austin Airport. Ugh, that is an early flight!!! The good news is that by noon, we were at our hotel, the Iberostar, ready for our first margarita. The Iberostar is located on the southeast side of the island by Playa Palancar. While somewhat far from town, the boat trip to some of the best dive sites on the island are only 10 - 15 minutes away. The Iberostar is a great spot to stay, especially with a group. Following the eco-tourism design trend, its nicely hidden amongst the jungle, unlike many of the older hotels on the island. Frankly, the only trouble we had with it was navigating the winding paths so that we could find our rooms. There are several main areas to congregate including the main lobby and the massive pool and recreation area. You can't miss the flamingo pool next to the lobby of course.

Food and drink were abundant and tasty, as you would expect for an all inclusive resort. The resort has several restaurants and twice as many places to get drinks including the infamous swim up bar. One of our favorite spots was a palm tree grove with lots of chaises and chairs in it so one could get out of the sun. It is very relaxing. Of course some of the crew weren't content with just lounging and went for the "On the beach" massage. Its a tough life but someone has to do it. There is some form of entertainment every night, again as you would expect in this type of resort, much oriented towards families. We spent some time at the discotheque, dancing the night away. I will say that next year, we are taking our own music down with us, the DJs were playing the same boring stuff over and over.

The rooms are about average for Cozumel. If you haven't stayed on the island before, they are fairly typical for that of Carribean resorts. One word of warning, those that were on the top floor found that the thatched roof leaked in a thunder storm and also found that their room had several very loud geccos in it.

We dove three of the days that we were there. Our first dive was a check out at Chankana Park. A few things had changed since I had been there. You now pay to get in the park ($12) as well as pay a divemaster to guide you on the trip ($16). I'd still recommend the dive if you haven't done it before, there are some nice caves with tarpon inside and its always neat to see the underwater statue of Christ as well. Lets face it, any dive in saltwater is good.

The rest of the time we dove with XTABay Divers

The last day on the island was shopping day.